South Carolina rep. pulls out own gun to make point about violence

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. at his ceremonial swearing in at the Capitol on Monday, June 26, 2017.

SOURCE: Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty

South Carolina rep. pulls out own gun to make point about violence

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Updated: 7:33 PM CDT Apr 6, 2018

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman pulled out his personal loaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun Friday and laid it on the table at a diner in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he was meeting with his constituents.

Norman told CNN he wanted to make a point in the debate over gun violence.

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"I merely proved a point that guns themselves are not the issue," he said.

Norman said that having a loaded gun in the room should, if anything, have made people feel more safe.

"Given the scenario that if someone had walked into that diner and began to fire a weapon, I told them I would be able to defend myself and them as well," he explained.

"I'm not going to be a Gabby Giffords," Norman told the newspaper, referring to the Democratic former congresswoman from Arizona who was shot at a constituent gathering in her district in 2011. "I don't mind dying, but whoever shoots me better shoot well or I'm shooting back."

At least one of Norman's constituents present at the meeting took issue with his actions.

"Rep. Norman's behavior today was a far cry from what responsible gun ownership looks like," Lori Freemon said in a statement released by Everytown, the gun-control organization for which she is a volunteer.

"I had looked forward to a respectful dialogue with my representative about common-sense gun violence prevention policies," the statement said. "Instead, I felt unsafe when he insisted on showing us his loaded gun and keeping it out on the table for much of our conversation."

But to Norman, the gun isn't the issue.

"Mental health, and more importantly, a lack of morality, is the driving force behind this epidemic. Guns are not the problem," he said.